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Fred's Inc. v. Jefferson3/31/2005
d physical therapy. Yet, following the logic expressed in Estridge, a reasonable inference from the chronology of events is that the medication and physical therapy were prescribed to aid Jefferson and to treat her injury. Any other construction of these events does not withstand scrutiny or pass the test of reasonableness. We affirm the Commission's order.
Fred's next contends that the Commission erred in awarding Jefferson temporary total disability benefits from April 25 to May 27, 2002, because Jefferson failed to present evidence that she was in her "healing period," as defined by Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(12) (Repl. 2002), or that she was totally incapacitated from earning wages. To support these arguments, Fred's again claims that Jefferson failed to show any objective findings of an injury and that she failed to present evidence to indicate that her pre-injury position at Fred's was outside her work restrictions, that she was unable to secure another position at Fred's within her restrictions, or that she would have been more capable of working after she started looking for work on June 10, 2002, than while she was employed by Fred's.
This court has said that "temporary total disability" is that period within the "healing period" in which the employee suffers a total incapacity to earn wages. See Arkansas State Hwy. & Transp. Dept. v. Breshears, 272 Ark. 244, 613 S.W.2d 392 (1981). Our Workers' Compensation Code defines a "healing period" as "that period for healing of an injury resulting from an accident." Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(12) (Repl. 2002).
The ALJ found that Fred's was responsible for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment that Jefferson pursued and that Jefferson proved by a preponderance of the evidence that she remained in her healing period and was unable to earn wages from April 26 through May 27, 2002. Specifically, the judge wrote:
In the present case, the claimant presented credible testimony about her inability to work following her April 25, 2001, fall off the ladder. The record is further supplemented with medical evidence and off work slips with a May 15, 2002, note from Dr. Rhodes taking the claimant off work until May 27, 2002, specifically stating "no work." . . . Dr. Rhodes had provided work certificates on other occasions where he had placed the claimant under limitations of "no lifting, bending or standing and only a sitting job ." The employer did not return the claimant to work with those restrictions because the nature of the claimant's job required all those activities that the doctor had placed on restriction. I find the claimant has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that she remained in her healing period and was unable to earn wages from April 26, 2002 through May 27, 2002. . . .
Again, the Commission conducted a de novo review and adopted the ALJ's findings of fact.
We hold that Jefferson presented substantial evidence that she was temporarily totally disabled from the time of injury until the day she was released to return to work on May 27, 2002. Specifically, Jefferson testified that her job as a stock person required her to bend, stoop, lift, push, pull, and be on her feet all day. In the past, she also worked at Fred's at times as a cashier. However, Jefferson testified that Fred's did not have a sitting job available during her healing period. The evidence shows that Dr. Rhodes issued a certificate on April 25, 2002, stating that Jefferson was able to return to work on April 29, 2002, but could not bend or lift anything greater than ten pounds and that she was restricted to a sitting job for three days. In addition, Dr. Rhodes certified on May 9, 2002, that Jefferson coul
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